Urals crude differentials to dated Brent were stable on Wednesday, while discounts for CPC Blend oil widened to the lowest level in two years after a deal during an afternoon trading session, traders said and LSEG data showed.

Russia’s crude oil exports from its western ports in February are set to fall by 8% versus January’s plan as Moscow increases refining, two traders said and Reuters calculations showed, after the latest U.S. sanctions squeezed crude exports.

Overall oil exports in February from the western ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk are seen at 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), down from 1.73 million bpd in January’s plan, Reuters calculations show.

Traders said that weaker price levels for CPC Blend were seen due to an expected rise in supply next month.

The initial CPC Blend oil export plan was at 1.42 million barrels per day for February, but could be revised upward, traders said.

PLATTS WINDOW

Mercuria sold 85,000 metric tons of CPC Blend oil loading on Feb. 17-21 at dated Brent minus $4.60 per barrel to trading firm Gunvor, below recent estimates of the grade.

No bids or offers were shown for Urals and Azeri BTC in the Platts window on Wednesday.

NEWS

Kazakhstan will make a final decision on oil production cuts after the next joint OPEC+ meeting, the Central Asian country’s Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev said on Wednesday.

Ukraine said on Wednesday it had struck a big Russian oil refinery in an overnight drone attack, and a Russian official said an attempted Ukrainian drone strike on a nuclear power plant had been thwarted.
Source: Reuters